Oral Answers to Questions

Jack Rankin Excerpts

Tuesday 3rd March 2026 Commons Chamber

[Seema Malhotra]

The Government have not yet made any decision about whether China will be added to the enhanced tier, but the right hon. Lady will know that we condemn in the strongest terms the politically motivated prosecution of British citizen Jimmy Lai. This issue remains a priority for this Government, and she is fully aware of that.

[Jack Rankin (Windsor) (Con)]

6. What assessment she has made of the adequacy of the compliance of the Palestinian Authority’s school curriculum with the UK- Palestinian memorandum of understanding.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs (Mr Hamish Falconer)]

The hon. Member refers to sections 3 and 8 of the UK’s 2025 UK-Palestine MOU, which is clear on our commitment to supporting the PA’s reform agenda on education. We welcome President Abbas’s pledge in 2025 to continue reforms in line with UNESCO standards. The Foreign Secretary and I have pressed him and Prime Minister Mustafa on this personally. An external review has been commissioned to verify the implementation of those reform commitments. I will report to the House on our assessment when it is completed in the coming months.

[Jack Rankin]

The Palestinian Authority have given the British Government repeated assurances that textbooks are being reformed, which one would have thought would be a minimum requirement for the recognition of a Palestinian state. However, in my office, I have an Arabic-language textbook, currently in use on the west bank, that describes Arab fighters using “explosive belts” to

“turn their bodies into fire burning the Zionist tank”.

That is accompanied by an image of a gunman shooting Jews riding a tank. The book is aimed at 14-year-olds. Is the Minister aware that this is going on, and does he have any faith that the Palestinian Authority can change their ways?

[Mr Falconer]

As I said, there will be an external assessment. I am aware that the process of education reform, which is being led by some of our friends in the European Union, is happening grade by grade. As I understand it, there has been considerable progress on grade 12, and they are looking at some of the other grades. The hon. Gentleman is welcome to send me the textbook, to confirm which grade it relates to.

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[Chris Elmore]

We take this extremely seriously. Journalists on frontlines across the world are often how we find out where atrocities have taken place. Tomorrow I am hosting a Media Freedoms Coalition discussion, and I reassure my hon. Friend that this will always remain a priority for the UK Government.

[Jack Rankin (Windsor) (Con)]

T4. It has been 31 days since I wrote to the Secretary of State calling on her to reimburse the royal borough of Windsor and Maidenhead for costs—some £350,000—incurred during three state visits last year. While this may be a rounding error to the Government, it is not to the ratepayers of Windsor. We are proud to host such visits, but these are properly national costs. Will the Secretary of State do the right thing and sort this, please?

[Chris Elmore]

I thank the hon. Member for his question. [Interruption.] Tomorrow is estimates day, and perhaps he would like to raise it then. On the wider point, he and I have been in correspondence, and discussions about these costs are ongoing.